Lost Video Island

[Im1oftheOceanic6]

I read the Sony Vegas help thread and the piece on the split screen effect but I'm still having some trouble getting the clips positioned correctly.

I used pan/crop and cookie cutter to place the scene of Jack waking in the jungle on the left and Ana in the ocean on the right.But when I used pan/crop I lost the right side of the Ana clip and the left side of the Jack clip and this often results in losing the important part of the clip.In one section Ana disappears from the clip and all I have is ocean.I encounter this problem quite a bit when I try to use split screen effects.

Is there any way to keep an entire clip intact but move it to the left or right side of the screen?Is there a certain screen size I need to set?

I'm using Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8 for the video.However if there is a better way to do the split screen effect in another version,I'd be willing to download that version form Sony's site.

I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong with my editing.I was starting to get frustrated with the program.

Macaila

[Aislynn]

You should be able to position the clips however you need them by moving them with the pan/crop tool. So let's say the clip on the bottom is the one with Ana in it. The one above it is the one that has Jack on it. You use the cookie cutter in order to isolate Jack so that it looks like he's on the left side of the screen. But unfortunately Ana is already on the left side of the screen so the clip of Jack is covering her up.

What you can do is open the pan/crop tool on Ana's clip and put your cursor inside the dotted line outlining your image. When the cursor changes to an arrow pointing in four directions, you should be able to click and drag it so that Ana on the left side of her own clip is now over on the right side of the screen. You should be able to see how it's looking by keeping an eye on the preview window while you move the clip. You'll want to be careful of pulling it to far and thus seeing the black edge beyond the clip. Hopefully, you'll be able to get Ana placed where you need her and keep the edge of her clip tucked in under Jack's.

If it doesn't seem to be working right, then zoom in a bit on Ana while you've got the pan/crop tool open and that should help keep those edges from showing.

Is that sort of what you're talking about wanting it to do?

[Im1oftheOceanic6]

The way you described sounds like how I've been editing the clips.My biggest problem has been not so much with the clips covering each other but with the clips running outside of the screen.

I made this so you can see how my clips look to start with and what they end up looking like when edited to a split screen.
http://www.mediafire.com/?i7ot92ruiei7z97

You can see how with the island clip , I lose alot of the picture when the screen cuts it off.Is it just inevitable that when you do a split screen you have to lose at least part of the image?

Macaila

[Aislynn]

Oh, thanks for doing that, it's really helpful to actually see what you're talking about!

[Im1oftheOceanic6]

I like the idea of maybe using pan/crop to scan across the image.I'd never thought of that.That would be really good for scenes like that island shot.

I think I understand what you mean by doubling the clip.(Put the same clip on 2 tracks but edit one clip to show the left side and edit the other to show the right side, then alternate between them. Correct?)

Thank you for the help.

Macaila

[Aislynn]

[Im1oftheOceanic6]

Thank you for the advice.

If I do a split screen and use pan/crop to scan across one of the clips,than the clip I scan across should be on the lower video track,right?(That way when I scan across it, it doesn't cover up the other clip.)

Macaila

[Aislynn]

Yep, that should work! And you're welcome; hope we get to see your vid soon!